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Copyright
All Rights Reserved ()

Tile with Hopi Thunderbird

Accession Number
1984/2.13

Title
Tile with Hopi Thunderbird

Artist(s)
Laura Tomasie

Artist Nationality
Native American

Object Creation Date
circa 1964

Medium & Support
polychrome slip on low fired ceramic

Dimensions
5 9/16 in x 4 in x 3/8 in (14.2 cm x 10.2 cm x 1 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Estelle Titiev, from the collection of Mischa Titiev

Subject matter
With this tile, Tomasie updates the katsina tourist tiles of the late nineteenth century (see Object No. 1984/2.14). Thunderbirds were cosmological symbols widely shared across indigenous North America and were often connected to the powers expressed through thunder and lightning. The depiction here is specifically a Hopi expression, and can be found on other Puebloan pottery of the mid-twentieth century.

Physical Description
Red orange rectangular tile with a thin black line border and black Thunderbird design.

Primary Object Classification
Ceramic

Primary Object Type
tile

Collection Area
Western

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Hopi (culture or style)
Pueblo (Native American style)
abstraction
ceramic tile
cosmology
face
hands
kachina dolls
modern and contemporary art
plaque

& Author Notes

All Rights Reserved